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“As in never,” Max interjected around his mouthful. And coughed.
Max’s eyes went wide and he coughed again.
No, he wasn’t coughing.
He was choking.
“Can you breathe?” Sabine asked, standing.
Dave stood up too. He exchanged a worried look with Leslie who had his phone out.
Max shook his head and his eyes filled with terror.
Sabine moved swiftly toward Max. “Stand up, bud.”
He did, and she ran a hand down his back once in a soothing motion.
Out of the corner of his eye Dave saw the two security guys step towards them. One had his hand by his mouth.
“I need you to lean forward,” Sabine commanded, voice firm. Calm.
Max leaned forward, his face panicked, tears streaming freely from his eyes.
She struck him on the back with the heel of her hand one…two…three…four…five times.
Nothing happened.
Sabine circled Max’s middle with her arms and positioned her fist on his abs. She thrust once…twice…and a chunk of partially chewed chicken flew out of Max’s mouth and hit the flat screen.
Max sucked in a fresh breath and held his chest with one hand. He wiped the tears off his face with the other.
“Oh my God.” He coughed a couple more times and then spun around to face Sabine. “You just saved my life.”
She gripped Max by his biceps, scanning his features, all business. “Are you okay? Can you breathe?”
He took in several gasping breaths, testing his ability. He nodded.
“Good.” She rubbed her hands along his arms, almost absentmindedly. “You should probably see a doctor to make sure you’re not injured.”
Max nodded and then suddenly wrapped both arms around her middle.
Max was not a hugger.
But he was hugging Sabine.
Leslie and Dave exchanged matching perplexed expressions.
Max set her down and then picked her up again. “You saved my life. You’re like an actual Jedi.”
Sabine snorted a laugh and patted Max on the back until he set her down again. She shook her head, her face pink with embarrassment. Or maybe Max had been squeezing too hard for her to breathe.
“I’m going to get some water for you, okay?”
She left the lounge.
“You guys, I almost died.” Max had one hand on his chest and the other on his hip.
“Well,” Leslie shrugged one shoulder. “We were all here. We weren’t going to let you just choke to death and kick you under the table.”
